


better

by cirrus (themorninglark)



Series: SASO 2017 [43]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Challenge: Sports Anime Shipping Olympics | SASO 2017, Feuding captains, Gen, M/M, University, team tiny captains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 19:45:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11721255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themorninglark/pseuds/cirrus
Summary: What he is not prepared for is Kita smiling, which is never a good thing.What he is not prepared for is Kita holding out a bag with two lunchboxes, professing that he comes very much in peace today.Kita at the school gates with two lunchboxes.





	better

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SASO 2017 Bonus Round 5: Clue | [originally posted here](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/24808.html?thread=15575528#cmt15575528)

When Akashi sees Kita Shinsuke waiting for him at the gates, he very nearly turns tail. There are a hundred reasons he could not be in university that day; there is filing he could help with at his father’s office, younger cousins who need fetching from school and tutoring at their music, and he could find an excuse, _easy_ —

The problem is, Kita would never believe any of it, and he’s already seen Akashi approaching.

_Kita_ , Akashi greets him first. His chin tilts upward ever so slightly, a stubborn greeting that’s heels dug in and an unfailingly polite implacability.

He is prepared for any number of compliments, laced with thinly veiled commentary on the state of the basketball team, how _well_ Akashi holds his own among players so much taller, the _admirable_ length and frequency of their practices, how it is _so_ kind of them to cede the courts to the volleyball team for a _few_ hours each week. He is prepared to fire right back, for he has learned that Kita can take as well as he gives. It’s one of his few redeeming qualities.

What he is not prepared for is Kita smiling, which is never a good thing.

What he is not prepared for is Kita holding out a bag with two lunchboxes, professing that he comes very much in peace today, that they may have had their differences but surely it isn’t anything they cannot settle like civilised people over a meal that Kita got up at 5 AM to prepare this morning, for, if anything, they are civilised people, the two of them. Are they not?

They are, Akashi has no choice but to agree. And so he meets Kita on the rooftop at noon, because he cannot think of a way out and he will be damned before he goes back on his word, even if he cannot think of a thing to say to Kita Shinsuke over lunch.

Kita takes the lid off a small thermal pot, and slides it in front of Akashi. The mouth-watering smell of _dashi_ stock and tofu hits him like an assault.

Determined not to be the pettier person, Akashi takes a sip of the soup and commends Kita on his cooking. Kita thanks him, asks Akashi of his violin and books he’s read lately, and slips an extra _tempura_ prawn into Akashi’s bento when he thinks he is not looking. Except Akashi’s always looking, and he knows Kita knows it too.

They do not speak of the use of the courts, the entire hour. They do not speak of volleyball, or basketball, or scores; they do not speak of competition, and Akashi only realises he’s lost track of time when Kita looks at his watch, regretfully cuts short a scintillating discussion on _shogi_ opening strategies to stand up and head to his next lecture.

_Will you eat with me again_ , Kita asks, a closing salvo.

_Yes_ , says Akashi, because he cannot find another answer, because, in spite of everything, it is the truth, and Kita’s parting smile is a triumph he knows he’s won.


End file.
